Nutrition Labels Leave Consumers Confused About Sugar Levels

CHICAGO (CBS) — It’s no secret many foods contain sugar, but you might be shocked to learn just how much is in some seemingly healthy options. CBS 2’s Dorothy Tucker put people to the test to see if they could convert grams on food labels to teaspoons, and asked one consumer advocate about his simple solution.

Michael Roe thought the 72 grams of sugar in a can of AriZona Iced Tea amounts to about 6 teaspoons. He was wrong.

The 72 grams of sugar in that drink are equal to 17 teaspoons of sugar, the same amount you’d get form six Twix bars.

A survey of 700 readers by Consumer World found 80 percent of people were confused about the nutritional information on food labels, because all food labels use the metric system, and ingredients like sugar are measured in grams, not teaspoons.

Others were surprised to learn a bottle of Nantucket Nectars Orange Mango drink lists 65 grams of sugar per bottle, the equivalent of 15 teaspoons of sugar.